5 Natural colours of Holi you can make for your kids at home

One of the best family day activities and festivals is around the corner. This year why don’t you make natural colours at home. Celebrate Holi DIY style!

Holi may be a festival in which everyone simply likes to drown in color, but if doctors are to be believed, that is exactly something that you should not be doing. Most chemical colors used to play Holi with, have solvents such as tetrathyline, lead, benzene and aromatic compounds that can lead to dry skin while dark colors like red, black and green have a high content of mercury sulphite, lead oxide and copper sulphate, which could even cause skin cancer.

And while organic colors are a safe option, their high prices certainly burn a hole in the pocket. Therefore, making your own natural colors at home using flowers, fruits and vegetables is by far the best option, especially if you, like me are obsessed with the idea of revisiting childhood with your kids on Holi.

Here are a few colors that you can make at home. Do involve your kids as they will love the whole idea of saving some money as well as their skins from damage.

1. Yellow Yellow Glowing Fellow:

Besan (gram flour) and haldi (tumeric) make a brilliant yellow that is actually great for your skin, rather than causing damage to it. Turmeric has antiseptic properties and gram flour is a great cleanser. Simply mix haldi and besan thoroughly in equal amounts. This colour is so good; you will want to keep getting colour on your face again and again. The compliments for the glow on your face after Holi will definitely be like a topping on the dessert. Mommies can even make a paste of this color for a post-Holi skin beautifying face pack. If you like, dry marigold flower petals thoroughly and blitz them in a grinder for a couple of minutes to get another paler version of yellow.

2. Red Red Mamma’s Pet:

If you love that bright pink color soaking all and sundry from a pichkari (pistons), then nothing works better than beetroot boiled in water. Make a concentrated concoction and dilute it with water. Now, fill up the water pichkaari, balloons and buckets with this liquid. Even if kids happen to gulp it, there is no reason to panic.

Red sandalwood is another great option. Make a paste and add water in it. You can use it as a thick paste or as a red shade liquid. Sandalwood is cooling and great for skin.

Kokam is also a great option. Take a good amount of kokum and soak it in a bucket of water overnight. In the morning you will have a deep red colour ready. If you splash somebody with this water, the tart and sour flavor will be a big surprise.

Dried petals of roses and hibiscus flowers can be powdered in a mixer and combined with a little flour (to increase volume). For wet color boil red sandal wood powder in water and dilute.

3. Orange Orange Colorful Porridge:

If you want to have a naturally luxurious Holi use some kesar (saffron) boiled in water. It will give a bright shiny orange colour. Try using some dried orange peels to give the mix a tangy smell. Dry orange peels in the sun until they are crisp. Now, grind them to make a powder. Add this powder to your saffron mix. You can even use just the dry powder. Add gram flour and turmeric to get a different orange hue.

4. Green Green Fairy Queen:

Dry lots of neem (margosa) leaves in the sun and powder in a mixer when really crisp. Voila! Neem leaves could be substituted with dry mint leaves or dry methi (dry fenugreek) leaves as well.

5. Homemade Holi Color Powder Recipe:

For really brightly hued Holi colors that are still minus harmful chemicals, the following recipe can be followed using food colors or icing colors:

Ingredients:

1 Bowl cornstarch

1/2 Cup of water

1 Ounce food color

Preparation:

In a mixing bowl, mix corn starch and water to form a consistency that doesn’t ooze off

Wear protective gloves and mix the food color with the cornstarch mix

Allow the mixture to dry for 2 days in a bowl

After 2 days place the dried powder in a baking tray in a preheated oven for 30 mins at 350 degree

This will dry up the mixture more and cracks will appear in the powder

Blend this mixture in a blender to form powder

Store in a airtight container

So, this Holi, one of our favorite activities to do with kids is to first get our hands dirty making natural colors and then having lots of fun applying it on each other! What about you?

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